Booties and Birthmarks
by yellowchikadee
Summary: A StingYu One-Shot. Why does Yukino always get stuck cleaning up after the boys? Where is Sting? Wait, where are Sting's pants! Whoa, Sting, what are you doing!


Yukino wiped sweat from her brow after emptying the contents of the dustpan. She scowled at the wreckage that still remained on the patio. Why was _she_ always the one responsible for cleaning up these messes? She wasn't even there when it happened! She got back from a job at about noon and found the whole back porch of the Sabertooth Guild Hall littered with broken glass and splintered wood. She still wasn't sure what happened, but it all chocked up to the same thing. The boys in her guild were idiots.

"I could summon Deneb to help," she muttered to herself. "No, on second thought…" She imagined the angsty spirit complaining about only being used and never appreciated. It would be less of a hassle to just finish the cleaning on her own.

"Yo, Yuki!" A voice called out to her. She heard the little 'ploff' of cat footsteps on the cement.

"Hello, Lector." She leaned the broom against the wall and smiled at the exceed. He was in a black leather vest and harshly angled sunglasses. "Oh, please don't walk right here!" she said in warning. "There's glass. You'll cut your feet."

"Thanks." He stopped short of the disaster and put his paws on his hips. "Hey, think you could do me a favor?"

"Huh?" she brushed her bangs back into place. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Could ya go get Sting for me? I need his help on something."

"Oh," she nodded politely. "Yes, I'll help but, why don't you find him yourself, Lector?"

His furry ear twitched. "Cuz I left Frosch out there on the sidewalk and I don't wanna leave him alone for too long, ya know?" His tail flicked in irritation and he looked over his shoulder.

"Right," she nodded seriously. Frosch definitely couldn't be left to his own devices for very long. She could remember after the Grand Magic Games when the poor green exceed had gotten himself lost. It actually happened pretty frequently. "I'll get Sting right away!"

"Thanks, Yuki! You're the best!" He waved and darted back in the direction he'd come from.

She eyed the trashed patio one more time. Just looking at it made her tired—but cleaning could wait until she found Sabertooth's master.

She walked inside and started toward the main room of their guild building. Sting might be there, perched on the throne. If not, the next place she'd check would be the kitchen. Those seemed like the two most likely places she would find him.

Just around the corner before the main room, she passed by Rufus. His nose was buried in a book as he walked, long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail so that it wouldn't drape onto the pages.

"Hello, Rufus," she said gently. "I'm sorry to interrupt your reading, but have you seen Sting anywhere?"

His eyes did not glance up from behind the masquerade mask he wore. "If memory serves, he went to his room about six minutes ago."

"Thank you so much!"

"Mhm." Still he did not look up, yet somehow managed to navigate the halls perfectly.

Yukino clenched her fist in determination and then changed direction. Sting's room was in the North-East part of the building, across the hall from Rogue's room. She was intimately familiarized with this because her room was at the end of that same hall, and she woke up every morning to the sound of the two of them bumbling down the hallway.

She walked past her room and turned left. Sting's door was impossible to miss. It sported an oversized motivational poster of a cat hanging from a windowsill with the words "Hang in There, Baby!" A cut out of Lector's head had been taped over the cat's head. This had been the first renovation Sting made to the guild hall after the Grand Magic Games.

The door was wide open, but Yukino knocked anyway. It seemed like the appropriate and polite thing to do. When there was no answer, she stepped timidly inside.

"Sting?"

She peered around the corner. His room was an utter disaster, per the norm. Red blankets ripped completely off his bed and cast carelessly onto a pile of laundry, which she knew was clean because she'd been the one who washed them and expressly said "Now, Sting, you need to put these away immediately or they'll get wrinkly." Clearly, he hadn't listened. There were candy wrappers and soda cans everywhere, a collection of yarn balls around Lector's cat bed, and some comic books scattered on the floor. The room carried the heavy scent of potato chips and… well _Sting._

"Did he already leave?" She took another step inside and leaned to see further in. His bathroom door was open, but it didn't look like he was in there either. Just to be sure, she took three more small steps and peered in past the bathroom door. It was empty, save for three different pairs of clothes and a towel piled up on the floor.

"Hey, Yukino."

She gasped and clutched her hands to her chest at the sound of his voice right behind her. She whipped around to face the white dragon-slayer.

"Sting! You startled me!" She chastised him.

"Sorry, I was in the closet."

She parted her lips to speak but the words caught in her throat as her eyes scanned over him. He was entirely unclothed, save for the tight spandex briefs he wore low on his hips—a bracelet—and the shirt he was just beginning to put an arm in. The tight muscles of his torso led smoothly into the curve of his waist, the lines of those muscles disappearing under the spandex. The strong definition of his biceps, thighs, and pectorals stunned her for a moment. But _only_ for a moment.

"Sting, what are you doing?!" She instinctively shoved him out of her bubble, palms pressing flush against his muscular chest.

His bright blue eyes widened slightly at the motion. "Whoa, what did I do wrong?"

"Put some clothes on!" she ordered, feeling flushed.

"That's what I'm doing!" he argued as he fixed the cuff on his shirt sleeve.

"Pants!"

"I will! Let me put on my shirt first, geez! I only have two hands!" He slid his other arm in the sleeve, then paused to adjust the bulge in his briefs before fixing that sleeve cuff.

"Sting!" Yukino blushed as red as a cherry. "I can't believe you just did that! Put some pants on, _now!_ "

He blinked, totally uncomprehending.

"You shouldn't get dressed with your bedroom door open, you know," she continued to chide, now putting her hands on her hips. "It's indecent."

"I don't see what the big deal is," he huffed. "We're all friends here, right?"

"That's not the point!" She averted her gaze from his overly exposed, masculine form.

"Alright, I get it." He rolled his eyes and leaned down to pick his pants up off the floor, giving her an excellent view of his equally muscular rear-end. "Don't you think it's kind of silly, freaking out about me in my underwear? I mean, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before." He stood up and ran a hand through his blond locks. When Yukino didn't answer, he turned to face her again, only to see her petite face turned down, hazel eyes wavering with emotion.

"Yukino, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I shouldn't have brought that up." He frowned. "I know that was traumatizing for you."

He was referring to the day Yukino was kicked out of Sabertooth for losing her battle at the Grand Magic Games. Jiemma had forced her to strip down in front of the entire guild, then forcibly removed her guild mark.

"No, it's fine…" Her eyebrows were still pinched together in a pained expression at the memory. "I'm not upset." She self-consciously tugged her blouse a little higher up on her breasts before sidestepping past him. "Oh, I was supposed to tell you. Lector is looking for you. He's out back, waiting."

"Yukino, wait!"

Before she could reach his door, strong arms enveloped her. Sting tugged her by the waist, pulling her against his bare torso. Her breath caught in her throat as he nuzzled his face against her neck, his blond hair brushing her cheek.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Sting, I already told you, I'm not upset—"

"No, I mean…" he squeezed her tighter. "I'm sorry for not doing anything that day." She felt him tremble slightly, his muscles tightening even more. "I should have stopped Jiemma, but I didn't. I let him kick you out. I didn't fight for you."

"Sting…" her cheeks took color. She smiled warmly. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"Good," he breathed against her neck. "I'm glad. I'll make it up to you, Yukino, I promise. I'm going to be the type of master who stands up for the people he cares about. I'll never let anyone humiliate you like that again, I swear."

His words brought a wave of warmth. She could feel the sincerity and devotion in his tone, in the strength of his arms around her. She believed him. She believed that Sting would protect her and make right all the things that Jiemma and Minerva had made wrong in this guild.

"Can I be honest about something, though?" he asked. His tone was quieter and his breath tickled her neck. All of these sensations made her skin feel like it was on fire. She swallowed nervously.

"W-What is it?" What could he possibly want to say? And why were his arms still around her waist? And why was he still not wearing pants?

"I swear to god, I tried not to look at you naked that day, but…"

"…but?" Her voice was no more than a tiny squeak. But _what_?! What was he going to say? What did she _want_ him to say?

"Well, it's just…" His hands slid down from her waist, over her hips, to her outer thighs. She brought her hands to her mouth and stifled another gasp, as sweat and steam gathered on her stove-hot face. "I can't help it, Yukino."

She felt lightheaded. She looked frantically at the still wide-open door. Someone could walk in and see this! What _was_ this? She didn't know if she should elbow him in the stomach and run for the door, or… or what? Melt into his touch? This was Sting Eucliffe she was talking about!

"C-Can't help what?" Her throat was dry, the words forced.

"This…"

Suddenly, he pinched her right butt-cheek and she squealed in surprise, jumping out of his arms. "STING!"

He was hunched over, laughing so loud that tears were gathering in the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

She raised a hand to smack him but he held up a hand in defense.

"I'm sorry, let me explain!" He tried to catch his breath in between laughs. "It's just, I remembered you have that adorable heart-shaped birthmark on your butt!"

Her whole body flushed red.

"It's so tiny and cute!" he said in a cutesie voice, while indicating the size with his finger and thumb.

"You're horrible!" She huffed in righteous anger. "And you still need to put pants on!"

"Sting," a new voice joined in, as Rogue strode through the door. "You do know that Lector is looking for you, right?" He paused in the doorway and rose an eyebrow at the two of them. Sting was practically rolling on the floor in his spandex shorts, while Yukino stood as red as Rogue's eyes, hands self-consciously covering her butt.

"Should I even ask?" Rogue frowned.

"Hey, hey Rogue," Sting clutched his gut while still laughing. "Yukino's birth mark is cute, huh?"

Rogue blinked once, looked at Yukino, looked at Yukino's butt, and went just as red as she was. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"STING!"

"I can't take it." The blond looked like his sides were going to split from laughing so hard.

"It's not even funny!" Yukino snapped. She crossed her hands over her chest and made for the door.

"Wait, Yuki—"

"No!" She walked mechanically toward the door, totally embarrassed.

"Don't let him tease you like that," Rogue said, while maintaining the color on his cheeks as well. "He's one to talk. You should see _his_ birthmark."

"Hey! Shut the hell up, Rogue!" He wasn't laughing anymore.

"Stop harassing Yukino, then, idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

They were in each other's faces, white dragon vs. shadow.

"That's enough!" Yukino snapped angrily at them. "Sting! Lector is still waiting for you! Put some clothes on and go find him, _please_!"

The boys pulled away from each other. Sting finally settled down. "Alright, alright." _Finally_ , he started to actually put on his pants.

Yukino sighed in exasperation. "Sometimes I think I should have gone with Fairy Tail." She put a hand on her temple, warding off an impending headache. As she walked out of Sting's room, she thought about Fairy Tail—about their resident dragon-slayers. She giggled quietly. Who was she kidding? Sting and Rogue might be a pain, sometimes, but she couldn't imagine life without them.

She knew she made the right choice.


End file.
